World Teacher’s Day Celebrates Contributions, Recognizes Challenges

“Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach.”

Aristotle

Celebrated annually on October 5th since 1994, World Teacher’s Day was created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to commemorate the adoption of the 1966 “Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers.” The 1966 Recommendation set benchmarks for the rights and responsibilities of teachers as well as international guidelines for the recruitment, employment and training of teachers around the world. World Teacher’s Day has become a day to recognize and celebrate the contributions of teachers and to encourage mobilization around the challenges teachers face every day.

This year’s theme is “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher,” chosen to reflect the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognized education as one of humanity’s fundamental rights. In the 70 years since the Declaration, UNESCO has worked toward ensuring every child has access to quality education. The primary challenge to this goal is a continued worldwide shortage of teachers, most pronounced among vulnerable populations like girls, refugees and migrants, and the poor.

World Teacher’s Day is observed in over 100 countries throughout the world. Events include community celebrations that honor teachers and conferences and symposiums concerning issues facing teachers and education.

Business Voices on World Teacher’s Day

This yearly celebration, and the awareness it creates, provide an excellent opportunity for Business Voices teams to mobilize and help schools, teachers and students in their communities. Projects can be geared to help teachers as well as the schools where they work and the students they teach. The Business Voices toolkit includes charitable project ideas including school beautification days, supply drives and even using your business knowledge to coach teachers and school staff. Take advantage of this day that honors teachers around the world to create excitement and support for the teachers in your own community.

Mentoring Benefits Children from all Backgrounds

The benefits of mentoring young people have been widely documented. Increased confidence, improved attitudes about school and learning, strengthened interpersonal relationships, reduced risk of drug use;these are all likely outcomes when a caring and devoted adult takes on a guiding role in a child’s life. Mentoring can have a strong positive impact on development and has the potential to change a life for the better.

Mentoring has been shown to be particularly beneficial to disadvantaged children. A 2014 study by the National Mentoring Partnership found that an at-risk child who is mentored is:

130% more likely to become a leader at their school

81% more likely to participate in extracurricular activities

78% more likely to volunteer in their community

55% more likely to go to college

However, regardless of income level or available opportunities, the mentor/mentee relationship has been shown to foster intellectual, emotional and interpersonal growth.

What Makes a Good Mentor?

Being an effective mentor requires more than knowledge and experience. A mentor of children also needs patience and a fair amount of generosity. Here are some other traits that children respond to in a mentor.

Supportive – One of a mentor’s most important roles is being supportive and encouraging when the mentee is experiencing problems and obstacles in their life by listening to their concerns and reinforcing their belief in their own abilities.

Good Listener – Young children and teens often feel that adults do not listen to them in a meaningful way. A good mentor validates their mentee’s ideas and concerns with thoughtful listening.

Encouraging – Although children do not always respond well to pressure, they do respond to having high expectations set for them. Mentors should push mentees outside of their comfort zone and help them achieve goals they may have imagined were out of their reach by helping them trust their own instincts and abilities.

Business Voices and Mentoring

The BNI Foundation’s Business Voices initiative provides opportunities for mentoring school aged children to business professionals that would like to share their knowledge and experience and help children reach their potential. The Business Voices toolkit includes everything one needs to get started helping students and schools in their community including instructions on running a speed mentoring session at a local school. Speed mentoring is a group activity gives students and business leaders a taste of the mentoring relationship. Take a look at the toolkit for even more ways to become involved and make a positive impact in a student’s life.

Help Children Flex Their Charitable Muscles – Books that Encourage Empathy and Compassion

Just as children are guided by parents and caregivers to be healthy, productive, independent and strong, their sense of charity should be nurtured and encouraged. We are all born with an innate impulse to help others, and like other personal traits, the impulse can strengthen or diminish over time.

Although it can be difficult to reconcile with the overt selfishness that may sometimes rear its ugly head, children do routinely, and naturally, express empathy and take actions to help and comfort others. It can be discomforting to witness a child throw a public tantrum over something they want and cannot have or aggressively snatch away a toy, seemingly oblivious to their playmate’s feelings. However, given the opportunity to observe a child, one will inevitably witness acts of kindness and compassion. Notice how a child will soothe a crying, baby sibling or rush to aid a friend who is hurt. When provided with positive encouragement, empathy will thrive in a child. If we consider that sense of charity as a muscle, it must be flexed often to make it strong.

Nourishing a child’s empathy and impulse for charity can have a tremendous positive impact on the child and those around them. A healthy desire to help others can offset the familiar “mine” impulse and can have a significant effect on self esteem.

Join the CLUB

We recently witnessed a powerful example of children’s impulse to care for others within the BNI community. Miami elementary school teacher, Jennifer Stay – who is the wife of BNI Executive Director and Chairman Emeritus of the BNI Foundation Board, Jeff Stay – showed her nine-year-old students a film that explained what the BNI Foundation is and what it does. When the students realized how many children around the world need help they decided to do something collectively. Since then each student has brought $1 to school each month. With Mrs. Stay matching every dollar, the fourth grade class became a BNI Foundation Monthly Hero. This incredible expression of charity led to the Join the CLUB program which encourages Business Voices teams around the world to follow the lead of Mr’s Stay’s fourth graded class.

Children’s Books that Inspire Generosity

Books are an excellent resource to further encourage the giving spirit in children. Below we have compiled a short list of books that will inspire children to give their time, talent or treasure to a worthy cause.

The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein – This enduring classic tells the story of a tree that gives all of itself to a growing boy as he becomes a man. The Giving Tree is a favorite that has been teaching the value of selfless giving to generations of children.

Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed,Emily Pearson – When Ordinary Mary picks some blueberries for her neighbor, her act of kindness starts a chain reaction that spreads around the entire world. This is a wonderful story that illustrates how even a small gesture can make a huge difference.

Beatrice’s Goat,Page McBrier – Another great book about the power of a single kind act and how basic needs are met in different parts of the world. Beatrice, who lives in a small village in Africa, cannot go to school because her family cannot afford the expense. When a charitable organization donates a goat to here family, it changes their lives in unexpected ways.

Maddi’s Fridge,Lois Brandt – Sofia looks for a snack in her best friend’s Maddi’s fridge and realizes that Maddi’s family goes hungry some days. This book shows children that great need is sometimes found close to home.

A Kid’s Guide to Giving, Freddi Zeiler – This comprehensive guide is a great starting point for kids that want to give. It covers donating money and goods, volunteering, organizing events and includes information on charitable organizations children can get involved with.

These books are a great place to start a conversation with children about giving to others. Items on the evening news and the needs of those in your own community can further the discussion and provide ideas for kids to get involved and help. Making children aware of their capacity to make a difference can plant the seed of a life of charity and good will.

Five years ago, the good people of 92nd Street Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association (92nd Street Y) , a community center in New York City, came up with the idea of a day of giving to kick off the holiday season. Social media blog Mashable used their incredible reach (6,000,000 Twitter followers, 3,200,000 Facebook fans) to help spread the word. With the help of founding partners Skype and Cisco, Giving Tuesday was born on November 27, 2012. The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving would become a day when people would reach in to their pockets and donate to a worthy charity. The first Giving Tuesday was a tremendous success.

In 2013 Google entered the partnership and Giving Tuesday received extensive media coverage. Charitable giving on that day was twice what it had been the year before. By 2014 Giving Tuesday was being observed in 68 countries and resulted in an estimated $45.7 million in charitable donations. There was still plenty of room for the movement to grow as a survey that year revealed that only 18% of Americans were familiar with Giving Tuesday, compared to 93% familiar with Black Friday.

Last year Giving Tuesday broke records again with an estimated $168 million in donations worldwide, and this year is looking to be even bigger. Meanwhile, it has morphed from a single day of giving to the kick-off for a season of giving.

Join the CLUB

After being awarded a Givers Gain® Grant, which went toward a class library, a class of fourth graders in Miami were inspired to form a Monthly Hero Club by donating to the BNI Foundation. Teacher Jennifer Stay, wife of BNI Executive Director and Chairman Emeritus of the BNI Foundation Board, Jeff Stay, explained to her students what the BNI Foundation is and what it does. The students were so touched by the needs of children around the world that they decided they would each donate $1 a month to become a collective BNI Foundation Monthly Hero.

BNI Foundation co-founders, Beth and Ivan Misner were impressed by the social responsibility and initiative exhibited by the students. They deemed the group Mrs. Stay’s 4th Grade Class CLUB.

This Giving Tuesday, and during the season that follows, the BNI Foundation is asking BNI members around the world to Join the CLUB. If each member of a chapter donates just two or three dollars a month, we could have Super Hero Chapters all over the world. The more chapters that participate, the more schools and students we can help with our Givers Gain Grants of $1000 each.

As further incentive, the region with the highest percentage of Chapters who Join the CLUB between November 28, 2017 and January 15, 2018 will receive a personal visit from BNI Foundation Co-Founder, Beth Misner, and BNI Foundation Board Chair, Kevin Barber. Beth and Kevin will participate in both an outreach project with a community school and a social event with the regions’s members.

Educational Grants Help Schools and Teachers Fund Projects

We have written before in this space about the great need for funds in our nation’s classrooms. Lack of funding has created a situation where most teachers have to purchase basic supplies like books and paper with their own money. The good news is that there are a large number of educational grants available to schools and teachers.

Grants are funds (or sometimes products) that are gifted by a grant maker, usually a foundation, trust or government agency. They can be awarded to non-profit organizations, schools and educational organizations, and even businesses and individuals. More often than not, grants must be used for a specific project determined by the grant maker. Educational grants are available for a surprisingly large number of projects from equipping a classroom with computers to paying for a field trip or anything that can enrich education.

What follows is only a sampling of the grants that schools and teachers can apply for. Some of the grants are open for submissions at different times of the year so check each link for deadlines and eligibility requirements.

The Kids in Need Foundation and Elmer’s partnered to award this grant that provides $100 to $500 worth of school supplies to students with financial needs. The application requires a description of how funds will be used as well as how many students will be impacted.

The purpose of these grants is to expand learning outside of the traditional classroom. Each Target store in the US awards three $700 grants that can be used for transportation, admission fees or other field trip expenses.

This grant from the Pet Care Trust is designed to allow students to interact with a class pet. Funds are used to obtain, care for and maintain a classroom pet. Teachers of students from pre kinder to ninth grade are eligible to apply.

This grant is available for grades 6-12. The Toshiba America Foundation promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning by providing funds for technology enhanced education. Grants of up to $5000 can be used to purchase technology and supplies for STEM educational projects.

The BNI Foundation awards ten $1000 grants each year, five in the summer and five in the winter, to 501c3 non-profit schools and educational organizations. Grants are by referral only and the school or organization must be partnered with a Business Voices team to be eligible.

Donors Choose does not offer grants, but rather an innovative way to raise funds for schools. Public school teachers can request funds for classroom projects, listing the resources needed. Donors can pick which school and project they want to support and can donate money or needed supplies.

A Word on Grant Writing

Grant Writing refers to the process of applying for a grant or making a grant proposal. Grant writing can be something of a skill that can be improved through repetition. Some organizations hire professional grant writers to increase their chances of securing funds. For teachers who will apply on their own, here are a few tips to help the application or proposal get noticed.

Get to know the grant maker – Research the organization awarding the grant to learn what they look for in an application. Reach out to them to learn what you can, read their blog and follow them on social media, if available.

Give yourself time – A well-written grant proposal, and most applications, take time. Do not wait until just before the deadline to get started, as you will probably not be able to put in the time to make your proposal shine.

Do not limit yourself to the short list of grants above. Take some time to research what is available. You will be sure to find at least one grant for your specific classroom needs. Many more grants for all kinds of educational projects are just a Google search away.

Cause Marketing Benefits Companies and Non-profits

Consumers, given the choice, will often purchase products and services from socially and environmentally responsible companies. Companies and non-profit charities are taking advantage of this fact, and the last quarter century has seen the rise of cause marketing, promotional campaigns that increase profits while benefiting a cause. Cause marketing is now the primary avenue by which companies demonstrate social responsibility. Cause-related marketing is a specific form of cause marketing in which a company partners with a non-profit organization to raise funds for a particular cause.

Cause marketing can be beneficial to both the for-profit company and the charity. For the non-profit, there is the prospect of tapping into the business’s marketing resources and exposure to the company’s customers. For the company, it can mean a public relations boost and increased sales. Even consumers benefit by being able to support a charity simply by making a purchase.

How Does Cause Marketing Work?

Cause marketing works best when there is a certain synergy between the non-profit organization and the company they are partnering with. Ideally, the non-profit’s mission and vision should have some relation to the company’s products or services. It is best if the business’s employees and customers are excited about the cause as well. The right affiliations make for the strongest promotional campaigns.

These partnerships do not always involve a straight donation from the company to the non-profit organization. Instead, businesses will often donate products, services, or their employees’ time. This kind of charitable work tends to have a stronger impact on the consumers being targeted.

The marketing campaign’s goals will be to motivate customers to take some sort of action like donating money or volunteering their time. An effective campaign will not only solicit help, it will raise awareness for the non-profit as well as the company’s philanthropic efforts.

Advantages of Cause Marketing

The advantages to the business include increased sales and public awareness of its social responsibility. A non-profit’s benefits can be significant. Monetary donations and an increase in volunteers are the two primary benefits. In addition, the non-profit is likely to enjoy increased exposure in advertising and publicity from their relationship with a for-profit company. Depending on the company partnered with, the amount of advertising and publicity generated is likely to be greater than what the non-profit can accomplish on its own.

The BNI Foundation’s mission and vision place it in a unique position to benefit from cause marketing. Our association with BNI and its members – all of whom are business people – provides excellent cause marketing opportunities, and BNI’s core value of Givers Gain® reflects perfectly the BNI Foundation’s goals. When BNI chapters integrate the BNI Foundation’s impact into the BNI corporate culture, the BNI brand is elevated, brand loyalty surges and member and alumni engagement and retention are impacted positively.

The charitable activities of the BNI Foundation, along with our aggressive online marketing presence, already lend added credibility to the BNI brand. Deeper relationships between the BNI Foundation and BNI chapters and members act as a tool toward BNI brand awareness, loyalty and recruitment.

As Dr. Ivan Misner clarifies in this video, the BNI Foundation is your foundation. The time, treasure and talent you give benefit the children and schools in your community. Currently we are working on increasing our membership among BNI chapters and members. Back to school time is the ideal time to get your BNI chapter involved with the BNI Foundation and cause marketing. Click here to get started on this win/win opportunity.

What Non-Profits Need Most is Funding

Too many non-profit organizations fall into a financial trap of their own making. Being mission driven, they find themselves focusing on providing services without a clear picture of where the money will come from. Many non-profits fail to put a solid fundraising system in place. A major study of the challenges facing non-profits conducted in 2013 found that almost a quarter of the organizations surveyed had no fundraising plan whatsoever. Additionally, many non-profit board members lack training on essential fundraising skills like donor identification, prospecting and cultivating.

Non-profit organizations need a solid fundraising culture to succeed. Too many non-profits find themselves dealing with one financial crisis after another when efforts are too heavily focused on the cause, and few resources are dedicated to funding. Some in leadership positions at non-profit organizations do not consider income generation their top priority. This kind of thinking can cause an organization to fail to thrive, or worse, flat out fail, despite great ideas or potential.

Create a Fundraising Culture

A strong fundraising culture is created when all of an organization’s members and donors have an awareness of its mission and funding needs and are enthusiastic to work toward making both succeed. With a bit of basic information, and an appreciation for how the mission and fundraising interact, members and volunteers will create a network that spreads the non-profit’s vision and is ready to capitalize on fundraising opportunities. These basic tenets encourage a positive fundraising culture.

Mission and Vision

Members should understand exactly what change the non profit organization is trying to affect and how it goes about doing that. What are the primary goals of the non profit, and how does it use its resources to serve the community? Being able to articulate these points allows members and volunteers to promote the non-profit’s work.

Fundraising Plan

Every non-profit organization must understand the costs associated with sustaining its mission and vision, as well as its programs and services and how to make the project sustainable. The basics of the financial plan includes information about revenue sources and administrative and organizational expenses. Donors and members must know who donates to their non-profit and where other funds come from.

Pitch

Having fundraising pitches or elevator speeches prepared for every occasion is essential to take advantage of whatever opportunity arises. Preferably, board members already have pitches they use to secure donations from the philanthropists they solicit, but everyone ought to have an idea of what to say if the subject arises. It could simply be clearly communicating the organization’s goals, strategies and needs.

Where’s the Money?

Ideally, non-profits must secure support from many different sources. Some financial sources will occur episodically from events, a grant award or single donation. A combination of episodic and ongoing support, such as endowments, annual funds, recurring grants and the sale of services or products are preferable. Here are some traditional sources of philanthropic funding that non-profits can rely on.

Charitable Contributions from individuals account for almost three quarters of all charitable giving in this country.

Corporate Contributions have taken on added importance to companies as socially conscious consumers increasingly turn to like minded companies when making purchasing decisions.

Government Grants fund programs on the local, state and national levels.

Foundations come in many forms including family, community and corporate. Their purpose is to generate funds for other philanthropic organizations.

Non profit-organizations need to consider all of this and more to be successful. If every member at every level of the organization is committed to both the mission and the fundraising, the non-profit will have a substantial advantage in receiving support of all kinds.

The BNI Foundation is YOUR foundation. Our mission to create a conduit between business and education to meet children’s educational needs is powered by BNI. We rely on the support of BNI members, but anyone can help with their time or money. Click this link to find out how can take action.

Teachers are Picking Up the Bill for Their Own Jobs

Teachers investing their own money into the classroom have become so commonplace around the country that it is now taken for granted. For years, schoolteachers have learned to accept the fact that they will spend part of their salaries on items for the classroom. New teachers entering the profession are generally aware of the situation because it is widespread and because they are told as much in college. This information is even found in some college textbooks. Studies have determined that the average teacher spends as much as $1000 yearly on necessary supplies not provided by their employers.
These out of pocket costs could add up to a major expense, especially for someone just starting a career. But, as mentioned, most teachers enter the profession knowing what is expected. New teachers are not likely choosing the career for it’s high income potential. This kind of sacrifice requires a different perspective and a willingness to take on the responsibility to do what is needed to perform the job properly.

Where is the Money Going?

The list of items purchased for the classroom by teachers is extensive. It starts with the decorations teachers use to liven up the classroom and engage their students. The colorful, educational banners, map, posters, alphabets and other learning tools that are ubiquitous in classrooms create a warm atmosphere conducive to creativity and learning. Without teachers taking on the expense, classrooms would be very different places.
As public school budgets continue to be hit, teachers find themselves having to cover even basic supplies like books, paper and pencils. Meanwhile, some have to work with decades old textbooks because they are not prioritized in schools’ budgets. Even furniture is not out of the scope of teacher spending.
In impoverished neighborhoods, it is common for teachers to spend on items unrelated to education to help their students. Teachers will pay for classroom snacks, student meals on school trips and personal items for students with the most need. It is not unheard of for teachers to pay for students’ college applications and curriculums.

Other Effects of Budget Cuts

There are other ways that educational budget cuts affect teachers. Less money means less incentive to join and stay in the profession. Here are some other effects of the lack of proper funding.
Lower Pay – This translates in to smaller paychecks, or losing a job when a school district decides to reduce class sizes.
Reduced Benefits – School district contributions to teacher benefits can be lowered when cuts need to be made somewhere.
Fewer Equipment Purchases – When money is low, schools may put off investing in technology like computers. Teachers and students suffer when they do not have up to date equipment.
Fewer Electives – A school facing budget cuts will typically cut non-core subjects from the curriculum, sometimes cutting teacher positions in the process.
Larger Class Sizes – A common response to budget cuts, bigger classes are less conducive to one-on-one instruction and cooperative learning.
As things stand now, some 20% of teachers quit the profession within the first three years. Educational budget issues do not help matters. Whether teachers accept it or not, they should not have to bear this financial burden. The BNI Foundation was started to address these sorts of issues. Our Business Voices initiative works to get business leaders involved in education by volunteering their time and talents, while our Givers Gain Grants help fund educational projects. Learn more, visit bnifoundation.org.